Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Senate Republicans blocked legislation today that would allow the government to negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices, something the VA already does and Republicans made illegal when they passed Medicare Part D. This is hardly the first time in the mere three months that Democrats have been in control of Congress: Senate Republicans have also blocked House-Senate negotiations on the minimum wage increase over the size of tax cuts for businesses, a bill that would implement the remaining 9/11 recommendations over a labor provision, a resolution condemning the Iraq war escalation, and a stand-alone bill calling for troop withdrawal. Furthermore, they have promised to block a vote on the Employee Free Choice Act that would make it easier for workers to organize.

To clarify, all of these bills had majority support for their final passage (as well majority of the American people), but because Senate rules require 60 votes to bring up a bill for a vote, Republicans were able to stop that from ever happening. Though Democrats were derided as "obstructionist" when they were in the minority by Republicans, Democrats obviously didn't block most the legislation that Republicans wanted to vote on. Their hypocricy simply never ends. Hopefully, these Republicans - and their leader Mitch McConnell - will pay for it come election time.